Unloading, storing, and reclaiming apparatus.



PATENTED SEPT. 26, 1905 L. MOSS. UNLOADING, STORING, AND .REGLAIMING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18, 1904- 3 SHEETS- SHEET 1.

.li i ai'w r ii WITNESSES.

A TTOHNE Y No. 800,231. Y PATENTBD SEPT. 26, 1905.

UNLOADING, STORING, AND REGLAIMING APPARATUS.

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fPAT N'TED SEPT. 26, 1905.

L. MOSS- UNLOADING, STORING, AND REGLAIMING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION rum) JAN. 18, 1904. 1

A TTORNEY UNITED sT Es PATENTIOFFICEI,

LINCOLN MOSS, on NEW YORK, N. Y.,;ASSI,GNOR TO ROBINS CONVEYING BELT COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N.'Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

UNLOADING, STORING, AND RECLAIMING APPARATUS.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LINooLN Moss, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Unloading, Storing, and Reclaiming Apparatus, of which the following is a specification accompanied by draw-.

I ings.

My invention relates to apparatus for unloading coal, ore, or other materials of like character from cars, barges, and the like, disposing said materials in storage, and reclaiming them therefrom.

In the handling of large quantities of any kind of material in bulk it isa desideratum of prime importance to provide apparatus by 7 means of which such material may be unloaded rom c r., we or Ou r carriers in f the a s ba s, he

quantities of coal, ore, or other materials may.

be removed froin vessels, cars, and thevlike and placed in storage at arapid capacity rate and removed therefrom as required for use, all this being accomplished'with a minimum of apparatus and manual labor and a minimum of initial cost and cost of operation. I

In attaining the objects above mentioned and other minor objects, which will hereinafter appear, I make use of the system of apparatus hereinafter described and claimed, the

invention being illustrated inthe accompany- 1 ing drawings, in which there are also shown by way of comparison several other systems of apparatus for accomplishing the same results. I

1n the drawings the preferred form of apparatus and .the other forms illustrated for comparison therewith are shown in more or less diagrammatic form.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the preferred form of apparatus; Fig. 2, a view in side elevation of the preferred form of apparatus,

parts being broken away; Fig. 3, a view taken Specificationlof Letters Patent. I Application filedifannary18, 1904. Serial No. 139,496.

Patented Sept. 26, 1905.

from the left of Fig. 2; Fig. 4:, a plan view of another system of apparatus; Fig. 5, an end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a plan view of another system of apparatus; Fig. 7 an end elevation of the appa "ratus shown in Fig. 6; and Fig. 8a diagramunloading. A railway-track 1 is arranged parallel tothe margin of the canal at a suitable I I distance therefrom for two electric cranes 2 2 to travel upon and unload the vessels in which the'coal or.other material is supplied. Two other tracks 3 extend at right angles from the track 1 and traverse the storage area C from end toj'end, eachtrack being arranged almost midway between themedian line of the storage-floor and oneof itsside walls. At the points of juncture, of the tracks 3 with the track'l turn-tables 4: are provided to facilitate thepa'ssage of the locomotive-cranes from the track 1 to the tracks 3 when occasion requires. I

The storage area 1s preferably rectangular,

;or nearly so, in outline and is provided at its sides'and ends with a retaining-wall 5, having gaps 6 therein atthe end adjacent to the track 1 for the passage of the electric cranes 2. Along the median line of the storage area O there is provided a tunnel conveyer (indicated at 7 and having its head or discharge end disposed beyond the'end of the storage-floor at or receiving end of the conveyeris disposed near the retaining-wall at the opposite end of the storage-floor, and thus the tunnel con-- 'veyer'runs the entire length offthe storage area.

' Arranged parallel to the railway-track 1 and between it and the adjacent end of the storage area is an inclined conveyer 9, running underneath the receiving-hopper 10, which is fixed in position at a suitable distance fromthe canal to permit the locomotive-cranes 2 to hoist material from a vessel B and deposit it in the receiving-hopper for delivery upon the conveyor 9. The discharge end of the conveyer 9 is above a hopper 11 in a small tower 12 at the end of the storage-floor, and the material deposited in the hopper 10 is conveyed on the conveyer 9 to the hopper 11 in the tower 12 and discharged thereinto. The conveyer 9 is also provided with a traveling hopper 13, into which material may be deposited by the cranes when operating at other positions on the track 1 than those indicated.

The hopper 11 in the tower 12 discharges upon an elevated conveyer 14, which extends longitudinally of the storage area at a considerable height above it and directly over the tunnel conveyer 7. The elevated conveyer 14 comprises an inclined portion 15, adjacent to" the tail end, and a horizontal portion 16,which is of slightly-greater length than the crest of a pile of material of approximately the same height as conveyer 14 and covering the storage area. -Upon the horizontal portion 16 of the elevated conveyer a tripper or deliverer 17 of the form illustrated in Fig. 8 is arranged to travel. The tripper 17 comprises a hopper 18, havingtwo lateral discharge-chutes 19, as shown in Fig. 3, supported upon the wheeled frame 20, which travels upon wheels 25, arranged at the sides of the conveyer. This form of tripper is well known in the art and is caused to travel along the rails 21 by the belt 22 of the conveyer..14, which is passed around pulleys 23 and 24, mounted in the wheeled frame 20 and connected by mechanism (not shown) with the supporting-wheels 25, which rest upon rails 21.

In the system of apparatus illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 the storage area is provided with a tunnel conveyer 30, extending longitudinally thereof from the side A of the canal beyond the far end of the floor, and an elevated conveyer 32, similar to the elevated conveyer 14, already described, which extends from a tower 33, located at the side A of the canal and provided with stationary means for hoisting the material from the vessel B and depositing it in a hopper 34, which delivers to the conveyer 32. In this system of apparatus there are no railway-tracks traversing the storage area, but instead tracks 35 are provided at the sides of-the storage area and a flying bridge is arranged to travel thereon.

The flying bridge 36 carries atraveling grab-' bucket 37, as shown in Fig. 5, and suitable means (not shown) is provided for moving the flying bridge on its tracks.

The system of apparatus illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 is similar in many respects to that shown in Figs. 4 and 5; but while the storage area is provided with a tunnel conveyer 40, arranged in the median line, the elevated conveyer 41 is placed at one side of the floor and extends from a tower 42 at the side A of the canal to the end of the storage-floor. The conveyer 41 is provided with a tripper which discharges upon a conveyer 43, supported on the flying bridge 44, which travels upon tracks 45, arranged at the sides of the storage-floor. The conveyer 43 on the traveling bridge operates the tripper, by means of which the material is distributed over the storage area in piles of the form shown in end elevation in Fig. 7, and the flying bridge also carries a traveling scraper-bucket 46, as best seen in Fig. 7

In the operation of my improved system of apparatus the material removed from the vessel by the locomotive-cranes 2 is conveyed, by means of the inclined conveyor 9, to the elevated conveyer 14 and by means of the tripper operated by conveyer 14 is distributed over the storage-floor to form av pile of the form shown in side elevation in Fig. 2 and in end elevation in Fig. 3.

In reclaiming the material from storage by means of this apparatus the material at the middle of the pile discharges through gravityehutes arranged over tunnel conveyer 7 and falls upon that conveyer, by which it is carried from beneath the storage pile and transferred to the conveyors or other carrying means,(not shown,) which deposit it wherever required for use. Thus without the use 01. other reclaiming means between thirty and forty per cent. of all the material in the pile may be reclaimed by utilizing the natural force of gravity and the tunnel conveyer, and two similar piles of material are left, one at either side of the tunnel conveyor and of the formindicated by dotted linesin Fig. 3. In order to reclaim this remaining material, the locomotive-cranes 2 2 are transferred from main track 1 to tracks 3. 3, running underneath the storage pile, and as the buckets of the cranes are capable of being swung through the arcs indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 the material remaining in the storage pile can all be picked up by the cranes as they are advanced along the tracks and deposited upon the tunnel conveyer, a complete reclamation of the entire pile of material being thus efiected.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the material is distributed over the storage area by means of a tripper provided on the elevated conveyer 32, and in reclaiming the material from storage the force of gravity is made use of to reclaim the material shown between the dotted lines in Fig. 5. To reclaim the material lying on either side of the tunnel conveyer, the traveling grab-bucket on the flying bridge is made use of, the material on one side being gathered up and deposited on the conveyer and then that on the other side.

In the storage of material by means of the apparatus shown in Figs.'6 and 7 the material taken from the vesselB is carried by the conveyer4l to the conveyer 43 on the flying bridge and is distributed over the pile'by means of the tripper operated by the latter conveyer, the bridge being movable on its tracks over the entire'length of the storage area. The recl-amation'of the material from storage by means of this apparatus is effected in part bygravity, as in the other two forms of the apparatus, and in part by means of the traveling scraper 4.6 which is carried by the flying bridge and is adapted to move transversely across the entire storage-floor, as its movement is not impeded by the trestle'of an elevated conveyer arranged above the storage-floor, as in the system of apparatus last described. I

The advantages of my improved system over the other twosystems described herein, which, with perhaps slight modifications-are .the systems ordinarily employed for this work, will be easily recognized. Comparing first the initial cost of the apparatus required by my system with that necessitated by the others, it will be noted that 1 do away with the use of both the cumbersome and expensive flying bridge and the costly hoisting-' tower and substitute for these two elements the two comparatively light'and inexpensive locomotive-cranes. Furthermore, I reduce the lengths of belt conveyers or other forms of conveying apparatus, and hence their cost, to a minimum.

7 Considering the cost of maintenance and operation of the various systems, each of the in, the operation of my system the only power a required is that employed in running two c'onveyers and the two locomotive' cranes, it is apparent that very much greater power at a proportionately greater operating cost is required by a hoisting-tower, a flying bridge,

the reclaiming bucket or buckets, and the con veyer system. While the advantages of my system over all others now in use as regards original cost and expense of operation and maintenance are very great, the most important advantage of all really liesin the increased efliciency which I obtain. During all parts of the operations of "unloading, storing, and reclaiming practically every element of my system,

is always in use and there is no superfluous machinery, no matter which of the'various' operations is being carried 'on. Both when unloading and storing and when reclaiming from storage the two locomotive cranes may be used. Both may "be utilized for one purpose or'one may be employed in unloading and the otherin reclaiming. In all other systems some one-or more of the various units must be idle,

and hence useless, at times. other-systems referred to herein'the hoisting- Thus with the capacity by the use of a minimum amount of machinery and at a minimum expense is one ofthe most important points in the handling of ooal,-or.e, and other similar materials. In the operationof my improved system two units, the locomotive-cranes, are used both for"unload1ngand for recla1ming,and only four units, the two.v cranes and two'conveyers, are

used altogether. In the other systems, however, only one unit, the hoisting-tower, can be used for unloading, and one unit, the grab or scraper bucket, can be used forreclaiming, yet a totalof more units than I employ arerequired by the other systems.

B'roadlystated, I obtain with my improved system nearly double the working capacity at about two-thirds the initial cost and one-half the operating-expense of any other system which, so faras I am aware, has been devised heretofore. w

Obviously some features of this invention may be used without others and theinvention may be embodied in widely-varying forms.

Therefore, without limiting myself to the construction shown and described nor enumerating equivalents, I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. The combination with apparatus for unloading materials from cars, barges and the like, and meansindependent of said apparatus for placing said materials in-storage, of means for adapting said unloading apparatus for use in reclaiming'the stored materials from storage. 2. The combination with apparatus for unloading materials from cars, barges and the like, and means independent of said apparatus for conveying said materials to a distance from the unloading apparatus and depositing them in storage, of means for adapting said unloading apparatus for use in reclaiming the stored materials from storage.

3. The combination with movable apparatus for unloading materials from cars, barges and the like, and means independent of said apparatus for conveying said materials to storage, of means for transporting said unloading apparatus to the points-of storage, to be used in reclaiming the stored materials from storage.

' 4. The combination with apparatus for un-,

loading materials from cars barges and the I like, and means for conveying said materials to storage, of means for reclaiming a portion of the stored materials from storage, and means for adapting said unloading apparatus to be used in reclaiming the remainder of said materials from storage.

5. The combination With movable apparatus for unloading materials from cars, barges and the like, and means for conveying said materials to storage at a distance from the points of unloading said materials, of means for reclaiming a portion of the stored materials from storage, and means for transporting said unloading apparatus to the points of storage to be used in reclaiming the remainder of said materials from storage.

6. In unloading, storing and reclaiming apparatus, the combination with apparatus for unloading materials from cars, barges and the like, and means for adapting said unloading apparatus to be used in reclaiming the stored materials from storage, of means for conveying said materials from points of unloading to points of storage, and separate means'for elevating said materlals and placing them 1n storage.

ing them in storage, and means imlependent of the unloading apparatus for reclaiming the stored materials from storage.

'8. In unloading, storing and reclaiming a1)- paratus, the combination with a locomotivecrane adapted to be used for unloading materials from cars, barges and the like, and a conveyer for carrying said materials from points of unloading to storage, of means for transporting said locomotive-crane to the points of storage to be used in reclaiming the stored materials from storage.

9. In unloading, storing and reclaimingapparatus, the combination with a locomotivecrane adapted to be used for unloadingmaterials from cars, barges and the like, and a conveyer for carrying said materials from points of unloading to storage, of means for reclaiming a portion of said materials from storage, and means for transporting said locomotivecrane to the points of storage to be used in reclaiming the remainder of the stored materials from storage.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LINCOLN MOSS.

Witnesses:

EMIL CHAS. Eenn, A. EDGAR TRUDEAU. 

